Housing benefit is increased – the number of beneficiaries doubles

The Federal Council approved a comprehensive reform of housing benefits on Friday. As a result, the social benefit will benefit more people from next year and will also be higher: instead of around 600,000 households recently, around two million households will be entitled to housing benefit in the future. The average amount is expected to increase significantly from around 180 euros to around 370 euros per month.

The housing benefit will be restructured at the same time. In the future there will be a permanent heating cost component that will be included in the calculation of the housing benefit as a supplement to the rent or burden to be taken into account. A climate component takes into account rent increases due to energy-related measures. In addition, the general formula for calculating housing benefit will be changed.

Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) said in the Bundesrat that the federal and state governments had launched “the largest housing benefit reform in the history of the Federal Republic at record speed”. In the final debate, she conceded that the implementation of the reform was a major challenge for the municipalities.

She knows, according to Geywitz, that it is a "great effort for the federal states to shoulder half the costs". However, the jointly launched reform is "an important sign of social cohesion," stressed the minister.

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